Why Choose Homeschool?

Do you want to spend more time with your kids?  Is the cost of your child's schooling getting you down?  Do you want more control over his or her education?

Without knowing much about it, I used to think of homeschooling as backwards and a little antisocial.  I thought it was something only "kooky" people do.  Now, as a parent, I understand why families may choose to educate their children at home.

The number of those choosing to educate their children at home is growing.  In 2007, there were 1.5 million kindergarten through grade twelve home-educated students.  In 2011, that number rose to  almost 1.8 million.  One estimate of homeschoolers in 2013 found 2.2 million home-educated students.

"Homeschool Days at Zoar Village" by Chiot's Run

Why are more parents choosing to homeschool?  A U.S. Department of Education survey of homeschool parents found that

•  91 percent are concerned about school environments;

• 77 percent want to provide a moral education;

• 74 percent are dissatisfied with schools' academic instruction;

• 64 percent want to provide religious instruction; and

• 44 percent want a non-traditional approach to education. 

Parents in the homeschooling community also often mention a desire for more family time.  Other reasons include the high cost of a private school education, special needs, and the ability to customize lessons for better learning.

"Crowned Conchs" by FWC Fish and Wildlife Institute

My husband (who has an Ed.D. and works in education) and I discussed many of these reasons while deciding how to educate our three-year-old child.  I now homeschool my son during the week, and take him to a language school on Saturdays.  I love our time together, and would not change it for the world.  He seems happy, smart, and is developing on pace with, or ahead of, developmental milestones for his age.  That said, my husband and I will likely enroll our son in a preschool next year.  We view these early years as time to experiment and learn what works best for our family in the years to come.

With homeschooling, I enjoy the freedom to decide when, how, and what to teach my son.  I am constantly amazed and amused to see the world through his eyes.  I feel privileged to spend this time with him.  We grow our bond as we learn and create new memories together.

"Homeschool Fun" by Chiot' Run

Wondering if homeschooling is for you?  Check to see if the questions at the beginning of this post apply to you.  In addition, here are a few more:

• Is your child missing something in his or her current education  that you think is important ? (Example: particular philosophy, morality, religious point of view, unconventional lesson)

• Does your child have special needs, physical or mental issues that are better addressed at home?

• Is your child being bullied or experiencing unhealthy peer pressure at his or her current school?

• Is your child's school is unsafe?  (Example: security issues, drugs)

• Do the instructors at your child's school treat him or her fairly?

• Is your child making adequate progress in his or her current learning environment?

• Is your child being adequately challenged?  If not, would he or she benefit from a more customized education?

• Do you want your child to have more one-on-one instruction?

• Can you afford to send your child to the school of your choice?  If not, are you happy with the available alternatives? 

• Do you want more opportunities to bond with your child?

Your family will probably have additional, unique considerations to think about, that make sense for you.  Advocates for Home Education in Massachusetts is a good place to start looking for more information.  Also helpful is Metrowest Homeschoolers, which runs a listserv for homeschooling parents to share advice and organize group activities. 

About the Author
Darlene W. Cancell is an attorney turned stay-at-home-mom, and most recently, blog coordinator for Parent Talk.

Choosing a Preschool or Kindergarten -- What you Need to Know

Choosing a preschool can be stressful for any parent!  You worry about getting your child into the "right" one.  You worry that preschool will determine how competitive your application is for private school, or how much success your child will have in public school.  You agonize over whether you can choose the best environment for your child's personality.  Is there enough active play for your rambunctious son? Is there a sensitive staff to draw out your shy daughter?  

"walking to class" by surlygirl

With a wide array of schools to choose from, your head is positively spinning!  Nursery schools, after-care facilities, schools with religious affiliations or without, and language schools are all possibilities.  But what does it all mean and which is best for your child?  Researching and comparing so many options is overwhelming.  Is there any help in sight?!?

Parent Talk to the rescue!  PT's Preschool and Kindergarten Fair will be held on Wednesday, October 28, 2015, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Christ Episcopal Church in Needham.  The cost is free to PT members and $10 to non-members.

For eleven years now, Parent Talk has hosted this informational Fair to help parents navigate the jungle of choosing a preschool.  This year, Parent Talk has added a new focus on kindergartens.   

"Welcome Park District Preschool!" by Franklin Park Library

Do you have a question about admittance schedules, fees, special curriculum (e.g., yoga, math, art, play, music, computers), or anything else for that matter?  Attend the Fair and collect your answers.  No need to spend hours online searching for every area school's philosophy and tuition.  Directors and admittance personnel from forty-five schools will be attending to personally answer your questions, face-to-face! 

Consider the Fair a one-stop-shop for preliminary research into preschools and kindergartens in Needham, Newton, Boston, Dover, Chestnut Hill, Brookline, Dedham, Dover, Wellesley and Natick.  Parents can sign-up for school tours and learn about each school's application process.  As an added bonus, six enrichment programs will attend, such as Wellesley Tree House, a LINX company.  Every parent who attends will receive a goody bag filled with Parent Talk's comprehensive preschool and kindergarten guide book, coupons for enrichment programs, and other cool, free items.

What could be simpler? Just attend the Fair with your questions.  A few possible questions are below to help give you a start. 

"Fun at preschool" by madgerly

Questions to Ask When Choosing a Preschool or Kindergarten

    -- What is the age requirement, and is being toilet trained a prerequisite?

    -- What are the pick-up and drop-off times?

    -- What is the teacher-to-student ratio?  What is the overall size of the class?

    -- How does staff handle discipline issues?
 
   -- What is the school's philosophy and approach to learning? 

    -- Does the school have an open door policy for parents dropping by?  What policy is there for visitors? 

   -- What is the cost?
 

   -- What provisions are there for special needs children?

Other considerations in deciding which schools to apply to include school location, security, reputation, and what special focus, if any, the school takes (e.g., emphasis on reading, play, music, art, etc.).  Also, remember to check your gut feeling in touring the school and interacting with its staff.  All of these contribute to determining how comfortable you will be with leaving your child in your chosen setting. 

About the Author

Darlene W. Cancell is an attorney turned stay-at-home mom, and most recently the blog coordinator for Parent Talk.

Do you have comments related to this post? Please provide them in the Comments section, below.

How Preschoolers and Kindergarteners Learn

"Amalie tests the obstacle course she built" by Lars Plougmann

Finding the right balance between play-time and academic learning is a problem every parent faces with their child.  We instinctively know that kids need to run around but that they also need intellectual stimulation.  Play provides young children with both.

You might picture learning taking place in a classroom led by a teacher who gives students drills and instructions.  But research on early childhood learning has found that it is more helpful to guide a child than to give her direct instruction.  In fact, one study found that over time, children performed worse in preschools focusing on direct instruction and preschools that combined play-centered and teacher-centered approaches, compared to children in play-based preschools.  Rather than telling a child the "right" way to do something, allowing her to explore with guidance fosters greater creativity in thinking and problem-solving.

"Adventures in Preschool Science" by San Jose Library

For parents concerned with academic achievement, it is important to know that play-based learning does not need to exclude academics.  A child should have opportunity for unstructured play, which can help develop gross and fine motor skills along with imagination.  But bringing adult guidance into exploratory play can take the learning to another level.  A child enjoying the outdoors can learn about science through rocks (geology) and animals (biology).  A child playing with toys can learn about math by adding and subtracting a few members from a group of stuffed animals.

"Mountain kids" by Travis Swan

With all that has been said about play-based learning, there is still a place for direct instruction.  In writing, a child needs to know how to form each letter and how to place them in the right order.  Practice drills and direct instructions can be an effective writing lesson.  (But the lesson might be even better learned if it can also be made into a playful game!)

"Lyra teachers her dinosaurs how to write" by Jenny Lee Silver

There are many early education philosophies that focus on different play-based and/or academic-based activities.  Parents can decide which philosophy best matches their goals and their child's individual learning style.

On Wednesday, October 28th, 2015, parents can meet representatives of area preschools and kindergartens at Parent Talk's 11th Annual Preschool & Kindergarten Fair.  The fair will be held at  Christ Episcopal Church in Needham from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.  Registration is not required for this popular event.  Admission is free for Parent Talk members and $10 for non-members.

About the Author

Darlene W. Cancell is an attorney turned stay-at-home mom, and most recently blog coordinator for Parent Talk.

Do you have thoughts related to this post? Please share them in the Comments section below.  

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Beyond Board Books: Selections for Your Child's Library

With the holidays approaching, this is a great time of year to think about expanding your child's home library. Though it may begin as part of a soothing bedtime routine, as kids get older, reading together becomes an opportunity that is rich with possibilities. Hopefully these suggestions from a local librarian and reading specialist will help you continue to nurture a love of reading with your child. 

When looking for a good picture book, I always look to see if the book has a story line that allows me to have a conversation about the book and its characters while reading it with my children. I also like to check and see that the book uses strong vocabulary and provides readers with an opportunity to learn new words. Additionally, quality illustrations that go alongside a rich text make a book that much better.

Having good conversation around a book promotes early literacy in different ways:

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It helps your child understand stories better;

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It allows your child to discuss their interests; and

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It helps your child make connections between what they know and what they are learning

The best questions to encourage conversation are open-ended questions, questions about things your child is interested in, that relate to your child’s experiences or that encourage your child to think and to give an opinion. Try to avoid asking too many questions or questions that just test your child’s knowledge. This can take the fun out of reading.

When reading a book with your child and thinking about its vocabulary, make sure to choose no more then five new words and look for a variety of word types. When teaching a new word while reading to your child, it is important to pause and enunciate the focus word and then to explain what it means by showing them or telling them and then relate it to something your child already knows. Then, if possible, make an effort to use the word in other contexts after reading.

Some Suggested Titles:

Fiction:

Mr. Tiger Goes Wild -  Peter Brown

Harry the Dirty Dog - Gene Zion

The Bunnies are Not in Their Beds - Marisabina Russo

The Hello, Goodbye Window - Norton Juster

Cloudette - Tom Lichtenheld

Frank! - Connah Brecon

Flora and the Penquin - Molly Idle

Gaston - Kelly DiPucchio

How Rocket Learned to Read - Tad Hills

The Betty Bunny series - Michael Kaplan

Stuck and Any other book - Oliver Jeffers

Swimmy - Leo Lionni

Ella the Elegant Elephant - Carmela D’amico

The Pigeon series - Mo Willems

The Day the Crayons Quit - Drew Daywalt

The Elephant and Piggie series - Mo Willems

Lily's Purple Plastic Purse - Kevin Henkes

The Gruffalo - Julia Donaldson

Telephone - Mac Barnett

Sparky - Jenny Offill

Non-Fiction:

Actual Size - Steve Jenkins (and all his other books)

All Gail Gibbons Books

Ivan: The Remarkable True Story of the Shopping Mall Gorilla - Katherine Applegate

Animal Dads - Sneed B. Collard

Living Color - Steve Jenkins

Sisters and Brothers - Robin Page

Everything Goes Series - Brian Biggs

All books by Tony Mitton

Character Building:

Have you filled a Bucket today? - Carol McCloud

Mean Jean the Recess Queen - Alexis O’neill

The Crayon Box that talked - Shane Derolf

One - Kathryn Otoshi

About the Author:

Liz Grossman lives in Needham, MA and is a mom of two – one who is of board book age, one who is just beyond board books. She completed the Teach For America program in Atlanta prior to moving to Boston where she worked as a teacher at The Edward Brooke Charter Schools teaching grades 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th.  Currently, she is a stay-at-home mom and works part-time as the librarian at The Edward Brooke Charter School in Roslindale.  A certified Reading Specialist, she completed her undergraduate studies at Brown University and earned a Masters in Education from Lesley University.

The 5Rs: Encouraging Early Literacy Skills

Written by Lori de Brun Nothwang

As the parent of an 8 month old, I struggle with reading to my Bean. Sitting down to read a book with an 8 month old is ….what's the word….challenging? She twists and turns and tries to eat the book as my head moves all over trying to read the words through her fingers and tongue. Before I can get through the first few pages she has spotted something across the floor that she now wants in her mouth. I follow her with the book, then think to myself, is this how it is supposed to go? 

I know she needs to listen to the language and have the exposure to books, and our nightly story is certainly important to our bedtime routine, but the parent part of me can't help but wonder if the time spent trying to read to her is worth it.  The teacher part of me knows that, yes it is. I know this because I know the stats and I have seen the struggles.

The U.S. Department of Education conducted a national survey in 1996 and found that less than half (48 percent) of parents said they read or shared a picture book daily with their children ages 1 to 3. This statistic on reading aloud is upsetting because it's known among the teaching world that one of the best predictors of how a child will do over the course of their schooling is how much s/he was read to prior to the first day of first grade.  Those who’ve been read to have working vocabularies of 40,000 words. They have heard over 3 million words. Children who haven't been read to have 10,000 word vocabularies. They’ve heard under 1 million words. Staggering difference. 

I know that reading to my daughter will get easier, and I am setting myself up for that time.  I mean, at least I hope she won't always want to eat the book.  What we parents do, or don't do, has a lasting impact on our child's reading skills and literacy. There is evidence of a relationship between reading regularly to a child and the reading achievement of that child later on.

The toddler and pre-K years are developmental stages in which literacy becomes so much more important because of its relationship to brain development.  "Children develop much of their capacity for learning in the first three years of life, when their brains grow to 90 percent of their eventual adult weight (Karoly et al., 1998)....as children grow and experience the world, new neural connections are made. This orderly and individualized process, varying from child to child, makes reading possible...As parents talk, sing, and read to children, the children’s brain cells are literally turned on (Shore, 1997). Existing links among brain cells are strengthened and new cells and links are formed. "

When reading to your child in the toddler and pre-K stage, there are 5 important Rs to remember. These Rs will remind us what to look for when reading, and they will also remind us of our purpose.

Rhyme Books that rhyme provide enjoyment in listening, fun in reading, and exposure to word families and patterns of language.  Rhyming helps children discover many common word patterns (such as those in cat / hat) and the more familiar these patterns are in oral language, the easier they are to recognize when learning to read. You may be able to pause and let your child finish a line in a rhyming book. Repetition (whoops, I gave away my next R) will also come in handy here, as your child may have read this story before and, through rhyming and memorization,  will know what word to fill in. 

Repetition Again. Again. Your toddler wants you to read the book again. We are once again humbled at the power and instinct behind nature. Toddlers need repetition to remember information and increase their memory. Reading their favorite book holds meaning to them, and it is this repetition that is critical to vocabulary development, motor development and learning the ways of the world. 

Rhythm The way we read and the intonation we use creates rhythm. Children love rhythm and given the opportunity to take over, will imitate your rhythm. I will never forget seeing a video of a friend's son reading Knuffle Bunny at age 2. Was he reading? No, of course not. But he had memorized the whole book because he had read it with his parents so many times. He even mimicked their voice patterns and expression.  Learning the rhythm of speech and language develops overall fluency. 

Routine Try to spend 15-20 minutes every day reading to your child. Don't look for perfect, uninterrupted time. We all know that finding uninterrupted time with a toddler, and possibly with other children in the house, is nearly impossible. If you read a few books interspersed throughout the day, your child will learn that reading doesn't have to be saved for one special time. Do try to make those few minutes here and there quiet time where the book is the focus.

Having a routine with books is important because children like and need to know what is coming. Maybe your routine has to do with reading the same time every day, like before or after nap time, or maybe your routine has to do with where you read books or how you read books. Regardless, make reading something special between you and your child, and have some semblance of routine so your child knows what to expect. When your child drops their nap, their routine could be adjusted to quiet time with books. 

Respect Respect of books and reading time has to be taught and modeled. When we show our children that books are something we treat with care and love, then they will treat them the same way. By modeling the sacred time of reading, our children will learn its true value just through taking part in that special ritual.  Make sure you show, through your own actions, that reading is important to you. 

Books are changing these days, and we aren't always opening a beautifully bound hardcover book. We see books online, on iPads and iPhones, and even in McDonald's Happy Meals. Literacy isn't just about being able to read, but being able to interact with all different types of media and text. Respect the art of reading and the methods behind the skill. 

Last bit of advice: make reading entertaining, fun and interactive. Ask questions, point to pictures, giggle together, and enjoy the time reading with your bean. 

For more information on reading, and lists of books appropriate for the toddler and pre-K stage visit ReadingwithBean.com

About the Author

Lori Nothwang is an elementary school teacher turned literacy blogger. While teaching she found that many parents had questions about their child's reading and how to help at home. With the arrival of her own daughter, she decided to stay at home and focus on literacy, her passion in the classroom. Lori aims to provide resources to better the at-home reading experience for both child and parent. When not blogging or taking care of Bean, Lori is Crossfitting, running, or eating chocolate in beautiful Boulder, Colorado.